Tuesday, October 21, 2008

IKEA BATHROOM HACK

One of the things I started this blog for was Ikea Hacking. Inspired was I by the great Ikea Hacker blogsite, I thought I was the only person out there who would peruse the Ikea as-is bin and the store for ideas on “Hacking” Ikea furniture. For those who are wondering what an Ikea hacker or furniture hacker is, I define it as a person who enjoys making changes to a piece of furniture to change it’s use or function to their own desire or need (Original meaning of Hacker- someone who makes furniture with an axe)Anyway it has been a while since I put up a hack on this blog. So without fanfare, May I announceMY IKEA BATHROOM HACKAs I always say, my “master” bathroom must have been an afterthought when previous owners put this part of the house on in the 90’s- It is tiny- more of a Powder room than a bath- measures 6’ long by about 30” wide, has a huge window and no shower or bath- (soon to be remedied) Anyway a normal vanity took too much room, and there was no storage at all in the bathroom. So I needed to redo this little afterthought.SOLVING THE VANITY PROBLEM I have always liked the look of Vessel sinks, but did not like the cost, but I hacked one here from a BLANDA BLANK serving bowl. My buddy at work, Bert, used a knock out to make the hole- 1 ¼ inch, then I mounted it with an 1 ¼ tailpiece kit from Lowes, My counter top is a MOSSBY stainless steel shelf cut down from 46 7/8 " to 24”. Rounding it out is BJÄRNUM shelf supports and an IVAR cabinet(this size may be discontinued 16x12x32- I could not find it on the ikea website)for the vanity-STORAGE:

On the wall, over the commode, I put an Ivar glass door cabinet, which I think is discontinued, I found at the annual employees days “garage sale” at Ikea Seattle, mounted on a LEKSVIK shelf and BJÄRNUM supports, all painted black (I know the leksvik comes in black, but I had this one out in the garage- besides I bought it at the as-is department – it had a huge dent- which is covered by the Ivar cabinet- a little paint and I have a black leksvik shelf)

I also used the BYGEL kitchen storage series , (cutlery rack, wire basket) hung from a BYGEL kitchen rail for small storage on the wall for my razor, toothbrush, etc-

There is something called art for windows that they sell at Home Depot ( and other places) that is vinyl cling 2ft x 3ft printed with various artistic images. Put them on the window, the light is diffused, you get a stained glass effect and no one can see what you're doing inside.

What are you going to do for the shower? Make the whole room waterproof and put the drain in the floor? If you widen the doorway for ADA entrance you can have an accessible bathroom to age in place/universal design.

Snowbird- LOL If i made the bathroom ADA compliant- I would have to blow out the wall. What I am thinking of using for the shower is an RV Shower pan- a bit smaller than standard- will be about 24 X 30- will fit nice through the closet wall. Making the whole room water proof with a floor drain may be the answer!